Tanker rates are headed for three years of decline as crude volumes disappoint, tonne-mile demand defies expectations and a swollen orderbook brings oversupply, according to a report by US consultancy Makai Marine Advisors.

Owners are “grossly overestimating forward demand”, and even analysts’ drift towards bearishness is too optimistic for Makai principal Jeffrey McGee, a former head of research at shipbrokers Poten and SSY.

Crude